


Café et baisers

by Gothams_Only_Wolf



Series: The Grand Tour [3]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, Raleigh is a Kitty, Sentient Jaegers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-10 10:29:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2021598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothams_Only_Wolf/pseuds/Gothams_Only_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raleigh and Mako end up in Portland on their way to another place and explore for a bit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Café et baisers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pickleplum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickleplum/gifts), [artificiallifecreator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/artificiallifecreator/gifts), [puff22_2001](https://archiveofourown.org/users/puff22_2001/gifts), [knightphoenix2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/knightphoenix2/gifts).



> So I got inspired by decadent_mousse's The Intern. This is dedicated to Tumblr user steampunkepsilon, who's dash made my week when it was pretty damn awful. Thank you very much! This is also dedicated to the Athene group of writers, artists and readers. It's been an amazing ride so far, you guys (and gals). :) 
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

**-April 12, 2025-**

They showed up fifteen minutes early to the requested interview and watched as exactly three interns (identified by red badges) tripped trying to get them a decent cup of coffee. Raleigh laughs into his take-away cup he brewed himself and Mako gives a sweet smile as he shares his coffee with her. 

"Thanks but we're good." Mako's busy sipping liquid heaven to much care for the fluttering interns so Raleigh pulls out his old pilot routine. He's going to revert to his usual, quiet self when they get back to the nice B&B they're staying in but Mako hadn't been in the spotlight as often. 

"Oh. Umm, can we get you anything else, Rangers Becket?" 

"It's Mori and Becket." he states with a raised eyebrow. "We're not married." 

"Oh. _Oh_. Excuse me for a moment?" The flustered tech started jogging away at a quick pace as the interns scatter, leaving them alone in the waiting room. 

**I thought they'd never leave.** the relief in Mako's voice is echoed through the link from his side. 

_Yeah. Yan was better with the crowds than I was; I might end up flipping someone if they touch me. The sensory overload is... bad. I can control it but I get super fidgety._

Her eyes soften as she look up at him. **How can I help?**

_Like this._ He gives her a smile as he laces their fingers together. _Contact from people I trust and no sudden movements into my field of vision. It's not easy to live with Asperger's or anything on the autism spectrum._

**I think I'm beginning to understand that.** Mako says as she cuddles close to him. 

"Rangers?" Raleigh presses his face into Mako's hair as he draws strength from her presence. 

"We need a moment." Mako points out with a warning look. "Please knock next time." **Better?**

_Mmm._ Raleigh slows down his breathing which quiets his mind and squeezes Mako's hand. _Okay._ They walk to the doorway and wait to be announced. 

"You've all read about them, seen social media pictures and tweet about 'em but here they are in person! The Rangers that saved the world, everybody!" They go out hand-in-hand; Raleigh shoves the urge to run aside as quickly as it comes to the fore. "So how are you liking Portland so far?" The wink at Mako has him bristling slightly but Mako sends a memory of some idiot doing the same thing in a bar and her knocking the guy's lights out. 

"Good coffee." he says with a warm grin, leaning into Mako's space as she gently squeezes their laced hands. "Great company." 

"Oh? Are you two together?" 

"Yes. He's quite sweet." Her fond smile is aimed at Raleigh, who's entire expression softens and he smiles back while sending warmth down the link. 

"That's interesting. Do you Ghost-Drift?" The question doesn't reach him at first because he's sending affection down both sets of links he shares with Mako and Gipsy. 

"Huh? Yeah. It stays for a while." Raleigh pulls his attention back to the host of the talk show and the women in the audience coo at him. Mako giggles softly as he turns back to her first before continuing, "At least a year and that's with not Drifting for nearly, what, four months? Wow. Time sure flies." Everyone laughs and Raleigh slips behind Yancy's tactics; a pretty boy with a witty line for nearly everything. Mako notices the shift but goes with it when he presents the last interview he did before Knifehead. 

As if calling it to attention, the man asks seriously, "It's been a while since you were in front of the cameras, hasn't it?" 

Raleigh's smile falls as his lips thin. "Yeah, it has." 

"If he was here, what would he say?" 

"I guess he'd say that family's important, whether or not it's by blood. That your choices make you who you are and that everyone has a different path. Yan was... Yan was a slice-of-life kinda guy, y'know? He lived in the moment. He probably woulda told you no, gone sight-seeing around the city and then swanned in here laughing with an intern." Raleigh was honest with his reply and the man sat back in his chair when Raleigh was done. The studio was quiet as people took it in. 

"Well, something new for you folks. Have you seen this?" The caption under the tweet was #CutePilots and Raleigh chuckled at the amount of retweets. 

"It's only shown up on my Tumblr a grand total of eight-hundred times." he quips and the audience gasps. "Oh yeah, Maks an' I share one. Ever hear of Adventures of Gipsy and the Dangers?" 

"I thought that blog was run by J-Techs!" 

"The amount of engineering _**alone**_ -"

"The spec runs were awesome!" 

"So that last update on V-K-Day was you?!" The audience reaction has Raleigh bursting into laughter that he can't even hide because Mako starts and then they're done. He can barely get in another breath before he starts giggling again. Finally he sniffs and closes his eyes tightly while taking a deep breath. 

"Whoo! Okay. I'm sorry about laughing but pilots have to know how to deal with all the stimulation. The massive amounts of readings we have to pay attention to is nuts." The micro-phone is passed to one of the gaping audience members, "So what you're saying is that all those-They were smart?!" 

"We train as J-techs to know our Jaegers in case there's a shortage or a team gets sick. Many of the pilots who are now deceased fought with predictable patterns that were taught in tactics classes. You do not become a pilot overnight and there is no such thing as an instant success." Mako calmly stated as she took a drink of Raleigh's coffee as she raised one manicured eyebrow in challenge. 

"We're learning a lot from the Rangers, folks, but we have a commercial break!" The host sighs as the camera light flicks to standby. "I thought they handed you a script."

"No? Unless one of those interns who tripped tryin' to get us coffee was supposed to do that. It's cool. We'll read it through real quick an' stick to it. Promise." Raleigh hums as he steals his cup back to find it empty. "Umm, you have a French press? Maks drank all my coffee and I prefer makin' my own." 

"In the staff room. Why?"

"... I've had no less than six Kaiju cultists try ta poison me an' Mako." he snaps sourly as he crushes the paper cup in his hand, the Drivesuit scars standing out against his skin. 

"Oh. Lorriane?! The Rangers need to use the coffee-maker in the staff room." the man shouts off the raised dias under the spotlights. 

"Okay. Hi. I'm Lorraine and I'm what keeps this studio running. Did you need anything else?" she's bright as well as reasonable: Mako likes her immediately because she's efficient and to the point. Raleigh likes her because she doesn't leer at him the way the Jaeger Flies used to do when they thought he wasn't looking at them. 

"No thank you but we will keep your offer in mind, Ms. Lorraine." Mako remarks with a slight bow. The woman returns it with a small smile as she leads the way. Raleigh washes everything down before he allows _Gipsy_ to the forefront. 

_**All clear, my Rangers.** _

**Good. I need more than one cup to deal with how this day is turning out.** Mako groans over the link, leaning heavily on Raleigh as he measures everything out methodically into the percolator (the man obviously doesn't know the difference between a French press and a regular European percolator). 

_Hell yeah._ They wait for the water to boil and the coffee to be made. The curious staff scoot closer as Raleigh practically cuddles Mako on the couch. _As much as I like poking fun at our adoring public, I will be so happy to get on that island with Hermann and Tendo._

**I am starting to think that Gieszler-senpai had the right idea after all.** Mako snorts dryly over the link as the timer Raleigh set meeps insistently. 

He somersaults off the couch, snagging the timer and turning off the noise as he pours the coffee in one smooth motion. The staff giggle nervously at his move. When he doesn't chide the behavior, they start genuinely laughing. 

"Coffee?"

* * *

When they settle back into their seats, Raleigh's a little more relaxed after the small talk he shared with the studio staff. He's always been better at person-to-person interactions because it's more comfortable when the person's working-class. 

"Alright, folks, we're back with the heroes who saved the world. You mentioned that you had a Tumblr?" 

"Yeah. I started it way back in, huh, 2016 but it's drawn a lot of people in. It was blank for a while after my brother passed on but I worked on entries when I couldn't sleep." 

"Insomnia?" 

"I worked on the Wall for a long time an' met some damn good folks working really hard." 

"Now that the Breach is closed, what are you doing aside from touring the world?" 

"We'll be moving to a private location and helping the real heroes clean up the coastlines." he shrugs as the audience mutters and mouths 'real heroes?' "Oh yeah. We may have closed the Breach but Dr. Gieszler and Dr. Gottlieb told us how to do it. Without their help, well, we wouldn't be sitting here." 

"The two remaining Kaiju scientists who were assigned to Hong Kong Shatterdome?" the host asks to make sure. 

"Yup. That's them. Dr. Gottlieb's a good friend of mine too." Raleigh brags with a smile at Mako and the crowd. 

"How did that happen?" 

"He slipped on some black ice and cracked his tailbone but I brought him in for some tea. The rest is history." he answers as he sips on his coffee. 

"We're just now hearing of this." 

"True. Ask anyone who was at The Icebox 'dome though an' they'll tell you that I spent a lot of my time with either Yan, Tendo or in the science division with Dr. Gottlieb." 

"There's a rumor going around, and honestly, for quite some time that suggests you had a relationship with Dr. Gottlieb." Raleigh tries, God help him does he try, but the laughter that bubbles up has him in tears as he slaps his thigh. Mako starts giggling, especially as she understood their relationship to be purely one of brothers. 

"Ahaha... Whoo. You crack me up. He's like my older brother. There's nothing sexual about it. We talked about airplanes and predictions and World War II, for cripe's sake. I've got a good three quarters of his model airplanes in a storage unit." he says after he's done being amused. Raleigh hopes Hermann is watching this interview because he'd be laughing too. "Next rumor?"

"Your first and only relationship was with a woman named Naomi."

"Alright, Naomi an' I shared _one_ conversation. Yancy took her out on a date before I could and we fought about it. He and I made up but neither of us dated afterwards. Yan did the Becket special but so did I."

"The Becket special is what, exactly?" the man leaned forward for the explanation. Mako took over as Raleigh literally curled around her and pillowed his head in her lap. 

"It's where a member of the Becket family falls head-over-heels in love with just one person for the rest of their lives. It only happens once and there is no changing said person's mind. Perhaps it could be equated to love at first sight." Mako's warm tone when she speaks means that Raleigh's chosen well and he knows it. "If all the other can offer is friendship, that's perfectly alright." 

"And he chose you." 

"Mmm-hmm. Maks is special an' not because she's beautiful. It's because she's my equal." he hums as he floods the link with deep affection. 

"Isn't that sweet? Well, folks, that's all the time we have; there'll be an autographing session live. Good afternoon and we'll see you next time!" 

The autographs are a blur for Raleigh as he's literally going into sensory overload. He smiles, says witty remarks but his heart's not in it. Raleigh's so utterly pleased with the silence of the car that Mako just smiles and drives for him. 

When they reach the B&B, the silence has shifted from welcoming to oppressive in the blink of an eye. Mako takes his twitchiness as a cue to start humming a tune that's strangely familiar before his over-worked mind connects the dots. _Oh. Utada Hikaru._

**I'm surprised you're even awake after all of that information, Raleigh.** Mako scoots back on the bed and pats it with an inviting smile. **Come here.** Raleigh moves on literal auto-pilot, shucking his shoes at the door and laying next to Mako with a happy hum. **I think the Jaegers are right when they call you a cat.**

_That so?_

**What do you call the ability to squeeze under the PPDC beds and curl up in the tightest corners of Gipsy Danger's Conn-Pod?** Mako says that with Yancy's knowledge and he huffs quietly into the crook of her neck. 

_Well when you put it that way, I suppose I am a cat. Did they say what breed?_

**Something about a fire-point Himalayan/Maine Coon mix.**

_Huh._ Raleigh stretches and his feet hit the bed board. _Sometimes I forget I'm taller than you an' Yan together._

**It's amusing, especially when you forget to duck plants that smack you in the face.** Mako presses a memory down the link and he rolls on top of her, bracketing them both as he places gentle kisses along her jawline. **What are you doing now?**

_Mmm, just wanna kiss you._ Raleigh hums as he cradles her in a warm cocoon. 

**Oh. By all means, saiai, go ahead.** she laughs into their next kiss and the knock has Raleigh on high alert as both of them shift to their Jaeger battle stances. He barks out a soft laugh but motions that Mako relax her stance a little. 

He peers through the peep-hole but it's just the owner of the B&B on the other side.   
Raleigh asks as he opens the door and leans on the doorjamb, "Can I help you, ma'am?" 

"Dinner's just about ready. Thought you might wanna come down and tell me about those Gage boys." Raleigh's polite smile widens a little at the memory of the Gage twins. 

"Sounds like a good plan. C'mere Mako." She rolls her eyes and slips on some house slippers. Raleigh's good with his socks on the tile floors and the owner doesn't seem to mind. Their fingers are laced together as they walk down the stairs. Mako laughs when Raleigh scoops her up so that she doesn't have to walk. "What?"

"You are incorrigible." she points out even as her eyes are full of amusement. He sets her down with a hum that she returns with a playful swat on his arm. They set up the table as the other guests shuffle down. There's a married couple, a kayaker and a journalist who's also on vacation. Various topics come up but Mako nor Raleigh are bothered about their day. 

"Do any sight-seeing lately?" The journalist looks strangely familiar but Raleigh dismisses the thought as soon as it appears; Naomi's back in Alaska. 

"Not yet. The paths are pretty relaxing though." he answers with a shrug. 

"Oh. You were going to tell me about the Gage boys, weren't you?" The owner of the B&B may be old but she was shrewd as well. 

"Yes ma'am, I think I was. Hmm. Trevin was the trouble-maker. Bruce was the calm to his storm and you could definitely tell them apart by temper..." His smile grew as he described the twins as he and Yancy remembered them, Mako throwing in memories of her own that sounded familiar. 

By the time dinner was done, the journalist volunteered to do the dishes with him. Mako sent confusion down the link and Raleigh returned it. The woman looked vaguely familiar but his memories refused to tell him who this woman was to him. **Find out. I don't like not knowing who she is.**

_Agreed._

_**Can I help?**_ _Gipsy_ asks softly, her warmth flooding the bond they shared with positive emotions. 

_You can run her through whatever database you think necessary, Gips. How are your Jaeger siblings, by the way?_

_**Striker's still crushing hard on Coyote. Coyote's been crushing on Striker since zher woke up. It's complicated, especially since we're not actually siblings it's just that we just like calling our creator Dad.**_ _Gipsy_ points out with the mental equivalent of shrugging shoulders. 

_Oh. That's new._

**Go before the journalist thinks you don't want to do dishes with her.** Mako's warning snaps both of them back to reality. The woman's tapping her foot now and Raleigh slides into the kitchen with his socked feet. **You can always chat about the Jaeger babies later.**

_Okay. I'm holdin' ya to it, Gips._

**_Dame's honor, my Ranger._** she gives him the impression of a salute with her old frame doing the motion. 

Raleigh washes and she rinses for a while before she carefully nudges his scarred leg. He hisses as he pulls his leg away from her knee, shutting off the water to check on the still-healing scars pulling his sweat pants up carefully. They're red but no longer as painful as they could be even with the warmer weather. 

"Oh my-I'm sorry. Do you need anything? Warm towel, maybe?" she flutters back and forth between wanting to be useful and finishing the assigned chore. 

"A warm towel would be nice. Maks an' I got the rest." Mako rolls her eyes but comes over to rinse the dishes as Raleigh concentrates on them as opposed to the dull throb in his lower leg. 

**She is not what I expected from a woman of her caliber.**

_I doubt she realized what exactly she hit. Hell, a lot of people in this B &B pretend or are oblivious to the fact that our faces are plastered all over the magazines and on TV. It's why I picked the place._

**She's coming back.** The click of the low-heels the woman is wearing signal her return and Raleigh just leans back on the counter as she stops short of him. 

"Raleigh?!" Her eyes widen as they flick over to Mako's blue hair and back to his face. 

"Naomi. I thought you were in Alaska." It's been years but Raleigh's memories are crystal clear with the exception of his years alone. Most of those blur together, especially his first year without Yancy. 

"I was; Pentecost sent me down to Hawaii to collect the other half of Coyote Tango's story. I... I asked after you. He didn't give me anything." 

"Sensei was not sure of your intentions." Mako states cooly as she wraps some ice in the towel hanging limp from Naomi'z grip and ties it gently around his calf. "You tell anyone we are here and we will be gone by morning." Raleigh preens subtly as Mako's stance places her in front of him. 

_Meow, Maks. You're extra pretty when you're kicking ass an' taking names._ She reaches behind and slaps his good arm with affection washing over the bond. _What? I'm only tellin' you the truth._

**You are a terrible influence, saiai.**

_Glad to know._ He hums as he wraps around Mako, placing his head on top of her hair and listening to her talk to Naomi. 

"Raleigh can speak for himself." 

"The Raleigh you knew and the one I know are the same but different. He prefers the background, not the spotlight." Mako points out. 

"That interview looked like he was perfectly fine with it but he was shy when I met him. Look, I'm sorry about hitting you Raleigh and I won't bother you again." Raleigh nods once in acknowledgement as she leaves the kitchen. Mako turns around his arms and reaches up to cup his face with her hands. 

**Raleigh.**

_Hmm?_

**You do not have to fall back when I speak.**

_I know that Maks. I want you to shine. Your work and the way you do things needs to be encouraged. I want the world to see you how I see you; beautiful and smart and incredibly well-rounded with a love that burns bright._ Raleigh counters as they slowly climb up the stairs like children, giggling when one of them hugs the other. 

**Then I want the rest of the world to know you're mine as much as I am yours. That you are kind and sweet and love with everything you are.** Mako replies as she pins him to the bed, both of them locking gazes as she perches on top. She's careful with the leg that has the towel wrapped around the calf. **Deal?**

_Deal._ He reaches up and meets her in the middle for a warm kiss. _So can I get a t-shirt that says 'Property of Mako?'_ She laughs and shakes her head at him, just like he knew she would. 

**As you wish.**

**Author's Note:**

> Wheee! Pulling out the fluff and love between these two is so easy. I always feel like it spills from my fingertips. Feedback is loved and wanted!


End file.
